Continuous-chair bail



e STATES o. A. sTANoLIrF AND JAS. MINGIs or wILLIAMsPoR'r, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTINUOUS-CHAIR RAIL.k i

Speciicatvion of Letters Patent No. 20,828, dated July 6, 17858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CORNELIUS A. SWAN- GLIFF and J AMES MINGIS, ofiWilliamsport, in thecount-y of Lycoming and State of Penn- Sylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rails and Chairs for Railroad-Tracks, which we term a Continuous-` Chair Rail ;and we do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichf Figure l is a side elevat-ion. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is an end view or transverse section. Fig. 4 is an end viewk or transverse section, and Fig. 5 is an end view of the continuous chair alone.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in all the drawings.

The nature of our invention consists in making the rail of a T section, and supportt ing it in continuous chairs in the manner represented, so that while the `load or concusslon is moderate the Web rests on a -continuous elastic cushion contained 1n the `groove of the chair, and when the load or concussion becomes very great the tread of the rail rests on two continuous rigid supports (provided one on each side of the web) which sustain the rail in its proper position without allowing it to twist or bend in the least degree, and also prevent any very great compression and consequent injury of the elastic cushion.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention we'will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The tread of the rail is represented by A. This with the web A extending downward therefrom forms what we term the rail. It is manufactured entirely separate from the other parts, and by any of the means, and with any of the methods of piling and working the metal, now known to the art.

The base, which we term a continuous chair, is of a breadth as great as the base of ordinary rails. Its under side is plane. The edges of its base may be smooth and straight or may be notched at `one or more points to receive spikes to prevent a movement either endwise or laterally on the foundation or road bed. The height of B is proportioned to its breadth about as represented. In its upper side is a deep. groove adapted to reeeive A', but of somewhat greater depth. Its form corresponds to that of A. If the sides of A are parallel each to the other then the sides of the groove in B should be parallel, asshown in Fig. 5, but if the sides of A are inclined, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 then thesides of the groove in B should be similarly inclined as represented. We insert pins or bolts C extending through both B and A as represented, for the purpose of confining them together. These will be more particularly described below.

In laying the track-the foundation having been properly prepared-we first secure t-he continuons chairs B in their' proper po- `sitions, applying them with `their ends nearly in contact. We then deposit in the groove of each a rope, aroll or strip of leather or hide, strips of rubber, wood or thelike elastic material or several thin strips of crimped metal-it beingwell understood that'sueh strips, however straight they may be, make a quite sensibly elastic foundation for any mechanical operation, and upon this elastic bed denoted by D We lay the webs A of the rails A. We take care to so proportion the lengths and to so lay the rails that the joints or butts ofA shall not coincide in position with the joints or but-ts of B but that the joints of each shall always be strongly supported by the other as represented. We next by a lever or any convenient means press down the rails A with considerable force and insert the pins or bolts C in holespreviously provided. These holes are of such size that the pin or bolt C is verytightly held in `B but is quite loosely embraced by A. Consequently, while C is held very rigidly, the rail is allowed to contractand expand with changes of temperature and also to rise and sink in the groove as the loads on its upper surface vary with the passage of.vtrains. The parts C `may be simplepins retained by their own friction alone, or by friction aided by a split or other key; or they may be bolts with stout heads and nuts, with the addition of a key in each outside the nut, if preferred for additional security.

In its ordinary condition the elasticity of D sustains the rail entirely, and when newly laid may urge it up with considerable force to as great an elevation as is allowed bythe fastenings C; but when, by the approach of the wheels of an engine'or car, the rail is very greatly loaded, the elastic bed D yields in proportion to the load, and when it becomes very excessive the under faces of A bear directly and firmly upon the top of B rails are kept in line with not very important. "It varies with the quantity of the elastic material employeditxsi any particular instance, and also with age, temperature, etc.

The upper surfaces. of- B may 'be level, oi"

slightly rounded las in Fi 3 or may be inclined as in Fig. 4. l given, the corresponding portion of A should have a corresponding form, in order to give as fair a bearing as possible. The form shown in Fig. 4 aids in supporting the metal of B and thus in preventing the widening of thel groove.

The above described rails and chairs, taken together, are intended to be somewhat heavier than the rails ordinarily employed for a similar traflic, but' the ex ense due to this fact is more than counter-ba anced. The elasticity greatly diminishes the wear and tear of the machinery running over it, particularly when the earth is stily frozen; the joints are prevented fromA sinking and the ends of the rails from being injured; the

ess easily taken out and replaced, and-a point of particular .importance-the rail may break without getting seriously out of place. Our invention in short combines in a good degree the advantages of the various forms of compound rail,`with` those ofthe elastic lchair patented by D. L. Davis in 1856.

Considering the invention as a com ound rail-it possesses a valuable quality in the deadening of the vibration and thus preserving the fastenings inl placeland pro the life of the metal, and considered as an elastic chair it possesses qualitiespeculiar to itself in the protection of the elastic material from any possibility of com ression.

beyond a certain proper extent, an in affording a continuous rigid support on each side of the elastic support, to maintain the 4correct position of the vrail under severe strains. In these latter pointsl lie the novelty of our invention.

Elastic material has been heretofore employed in compound rails and chairs in such manner that it has been compressed to 'j an.. unlimited-v degree,` Whereasv in our inven- -A becomes suliicient to compress the e atever the form labor, are

Onging.

tion so soon as the'weight or concussion upon" tic material to a certain extent, the under side of A rests continuously von the to of B on each sidegand-.renders it impossi 1e to this `means the proper condition of the elastic material is preserved much longer than when the load is allowed to rest upon'it with its full force. The elastic material as here- Atoforeemployed has soon lost its elasticity,

in consequence partly of the immense ,compression to which ithas been subjected. In our invention the maximum com ression of the material is limited to the dieience between the depth o f the roove in B and the depth of the web A', t e former being always the greatest.

We are not aware that any one has before supported or proposed to. support a rail on a' continuous elastic bedding within a continuous chair and also provided or proposed 'to provide a continuous rigid sup ort under each side of the body or tread o the rail to receive and support this portion rigidly after the elastic material lias been comressed to a moderate extent, as we have one.

We do not claim the supporting of rails Lipon elast-ic material in continuous chairs Having now fully described our continuous chair rail what we claim as our invention and-desire to secure by Letters Patent C. A. STANCLIFF. JAMES MINGIS.

Witnesses: A

LEONARD MINER, JAMES A. SMITH.

compress the elastic material further. By 

